Police uncovers mass grave with 200 bodies in Ethiopia

Police in Ethiopia say they have uncovered a mass grave containing at least 200 bodies near the border between the Oromiya and Somali regions of the country.

Local media reports that the mass grave was found during an investigation of a former president of Ethiopia’s Somali region, Abdi Mohammed, who is currently facing trial on charges of human rights abuses and stoking clashes.

This comes after hundreds of people were displaced due to violence in the region over the past year.

A notorious regional security force known as the Liyu police is accused of carrying out killings in the area between the Somali and Oromia regions and it reported directly to the regional president. The police are trying to identify the 200 bodies found.

Abdi Mohammed Omer was forced to resign on Aug. 6 and was arrested weeks later after violence broke out in the regional capital, Jijiga.

His administration has been accused by different Human Rights Groups of abuses such as torture, while some witnesses claimed he had ordered paramilitary raids on civilians in neighboring Oromiya region after ethnic clashes there last September.